The Royal Danish Nautical Charts Archive () was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

Navy department, responsible for making accurate

nautical charts A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a sea area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land (topographic map), natural features of the seabed, details of the coa ...

for the Danish government, primary the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

, for nearly 200 years. Its former building at Toldbodvej, now Esplanaden, was also the first home of the

Danish Meteorological Institute The Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI; da, Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut) is the official Danish meteorological institute, administrated by the Ministry of Energy, Utilities and Climate. The institute makes weather forecasts and observati ...

. The building was used as an extension office for Maersk Group services, but is being renovated and will soon house the Maersk Foundation offices.

History

The Royal Danish Nautical Charts Archive was initiated by royal resolution of 25 October 1784, at the initiative of a naval captain,

Poul Løvenørn Poul is a Danish masculine given name. It is the Danish cognate of the name Paul. Poul may refer to: People * Poul Andersen (1922–2006), Danish printer *Poul Anderson (1926–2001), American writer *Poul Erik Andreasen (born 1949), Danish foot ...

, who would also become the first director of the department. It was originally located on

Holmens Kanal Holmens Kanal is a short street in central Copenhagen. Part of the main thoroughfare of the city centre, it extends from Kongens Nytorv for one block to a junction with a statue of Niels Juel where it turns right towards Holmens Bro while the thro ...

, next to

Holmen Church The Holmen Church ( da, Holmens Kirke) is a Parish church in central Copenhagen in Denmark, on the street called Holmens Kanal. First built as an anchor forge in 1563, it was converted into a naval church by Christian IV. It is famous for having ...

. On 1 April 1973 the department, together with Lodsvæsenet (the pilot service), Fyrvæsenet (the lighthouse service) and Redningsvæsenet (the rescue service), was merged into Farvandsdirektoratet, in that process changing its name to ''Nautisk Afdeling'' and gaining a few more responsibilities. By royal resolution of 9 October 1987, the nautical chart production part was detached and combined with

Geodætisk Institut Geodætisk Institut (1928–1987) was a Danish state-run cartographic institute. It was created by law number 82, of 31 March 1928, combining Generalstabens Topografiske Afdeling and Den danske Gradmaaling, two institutions that did somewhat ov ...

and Matrikeldirektoratet to form Kort & Matrikelstyrelsen, where it today is a department called ''Søkortområdet''. According to resolution of 1816, nautical charts produced by ''Søkortarkivet'' has no copyright expiration date. They are permanently copyright protected by the Danish government. This order is still valid according to the Danish copyright law § 92.Schønning, Peter (2008) ''Ophavsretsloven med kommentarer'', 4th ed. . Copenhagen: Forlaget Thomson, p. 746. .

Directors

* 1784–1826

* 1826–1853 Christian Christopher Zahrtmann * 1853–1888 Hans Peter Rothe * 1889–1898

Carl Frederick Wandel Carl Frederik Wandel (15 August 1843 – 21 April 1930) was a Danish naval officer and polar explorer. He was largely involved in hydrographic work. Wandel became an officer of the Danish Navy in 1863, rising to the rank of captain in 1892, of ...

* 1899–1909

Gustav Frederik Holm Gustav Frederik Holm (6 August 1849 – 13 March 1940) was a Danish naval officer and Arctic explorer born in Copenhagen. Career He was made commander in the navy in 1899, was chief of the hydrographic bureau from 1899 to 1909, and became dire ...

* 1909–1919 Christian Bloch * 1919–1933 H. O. Ravn

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Det Kongelige Danske Sokortarkiv Government agencies of Denmark Royal Danish Navy Hydrology organizations Cartography by country Maps of Scandinavia